The Swords of Evangelion.
by The Dane
Summary: NGE in a setting you would never have imagined. And surprises one might not have expected.
1. The Call. (Prologue)

Disclaimer: Yes... it's me again. I don't own any of this... as always... and I don't make money  
  
on it either. (though a couple of thousand Danish crowns would hit the spot right about now... )  
  
The penguins made me do it!  
  
This is an Alternate Universe story, with the cast of NGE in an fantasy setting. Some might  
  
be a little OOC, but not too much, I hope. Shinji will show a little more spine than usual,   
  
and the age of the charaters is a bit different from that in the _real_ NGE. So now you have the  
  
specifics. And thanks to my personal 'mad editor' beta-reader. The talented Worldmage! And of  
  
course my lovely pre-readers as well.  
  
So let's get it on!  
  
  
  
  
The Swords of Evangelion: The Call.  
  
  
Ikari Shinji was dreaming. He did not dream often, but when he did it was  
  
usually nightmares. But this time it was different-- he was having a vision of something. It was  
  
a place, a-- temple. He knew it to be a vision because it was too clear, too vivid in its  
  
reality to be conjured up by a confused and dozing brain.  
  
He could recognize the temple now-- it was the temple where his mother had been the high  
  
priestess. He remembered it from his childhood. He could see someone now. A young maiden, she  
  
could be no more than eighteen summers of age. About his own age. She was speaking to him... she  
  
was beautiful. Something as rare as an albino, but the paleness of her skin, the near  
  
tranlucense of it, coupled with the wispy blue hair waving in the wind all exaggerated her  
  
beauty, made it more exotic. She was wearing the mantle of a high priestess of Eva. Shinji  
  
wondered if she had married his father, the high priest of Adam, in accordance with tradition.  
  
Shinji was angered at the notion.  
  
She spoke again. "Ikari Shinji?" Her voice was so low that he   
  
almost thought that she was whispering. He was surprized to hear his name spoken as it was custom  
  
in the east-- his home.  
  
His father had given him over to the Captain of the temple guards for adoption. Shinji had toured  
  
in the west with her in two years now, fighting the holy war that the state had proclaimed  
  
against the infidels-- or rather, the war his _father_ had proclaimed.  
  
The Captain, Miss Misato. He had almost gotten used to speaking like a westerner, so he was stung  
  
by a swift ache of homesickness as he heard his name spoken in his native tongue. "Yes, it is I."  
  
Shinji responded cordially, bowing to her in respect. She made no move to bow back... she needed  
  
not. He was but a temple guard, although a very high and respected caste, she _was_ still the  
  
head of the order of female clerics. "You are called to your home. You, and others have been  
  
chosen to a great honor. A grave danger threatens us all and we must rise to the occasion." She  
  
still spoke in that low, quiet voice. "But why me?" Shinji did not understand, nothing could  
  
threaten the homeland, not with the powerful clerics of Adam and Eva-- his father amongst those.  
  
Suddenly he heard a deep, masculine voice behind him. "Because we have a need for you! It is for  
  
this that you have trained and fought all this time." Shinji slumped "Father." He turned to  
  
look at his father, Gendo Ikari... no! Ikari Gendo, family takes precedence over individual, the  
  
west was really beginning to infect his way of being. But then again-- two years with the  
  
barbarians would wear thin on most people.  
  
"Is that why you called me?" Shinji looked up, he was angry now. "All this time, I thought you  
  
had no love for me at all, no use. And now THIS!" Shinji was shouting at his father now. He  
  
reared back his arm to punish the demon who had haunted him for so long. As his fist closed in on  
  
his father's face, he suddenly experienced a new emotion... hatred for the man who had never   
  
loved him, or his mother for that Matter.  
  
Suddenly Shinji was lying on the ground, whisps of smoke rising from his body, his whole being   
  
burned with agony. "Know your place, soldier." A woman said flatly. Rei was standing by   
  
Gendo's side now. She was clearly angry, Although her face,was not marred by any expression in   
  
the least, other than the lowering of her fine blue eyebrows, Shinji could see the seething  
  
flames burning in her eyes, making them an even darker hue of red-- darkening to almost black.  
  
Everything suddenly became clear to Shinji's dazed mind-- she had just unleashed an A.T. field!  
  
As as eighteen-year-old girl, she could barely have been initiated as high priestess. And yet   
  
here she was, unfolding A.T. fields. And on a whole different plane of existence at that! Shinji  
  
had always been taught that magic did not exist on the dream-plane or at least that none was   
  
powerful enough to override the barriers... then Shinji remembered that it was a vision-- or a   
  
sending, he wasn't quite sure. But he knew that they were in control. He laughed bitterly and  
  
got up from the ground. "Do I get an escort?" He mocked. "Yes," Gendo said. "Captain Katsuragi   
  
shall accompany you. You will also be collecting other candidates as well. You will recieve   
  
formal notice tomorrow. Rei thought that you might like to know the specifics of the honor  
  
befalling you." Rei smiled cautiously... as if she was unsure of the mechanics of a smile. She  
  
was clearly pleased of Gendo's mentioning her name though. He had his arm around her slender  
  
shoulders. "And Shinji... meet my new wife."   
  
  
Shinji sat up in the bed with a gasp...it _was_ true! He was going to see his father again, and  
  
his father's new wife-- "Rei..." Shinji muttered. "Father..." He sighed and lay back in the  
  
bunk. He could hear Misato's snoring clearly and he spotted bottles of wine and hard liquer lying  
  
around the tent. He grinned as he saw a young private making his hasty escape from the claws of  
  
the hungry woman, Shinji shook his head and grinned. That young private was apparently why she  
  
had ordered Shinji to take the night watch.  
  
Judging from the amount of bottles lying around, Shinji figured that she would be of little use  
  
to him when she got around to waking up from her stupor.  
  
He sighed again and shifted slightly in the bunk to find a more comfortable position. "Who _is_   
  
Rei Ayanami anyway?" He mumbled. Damn! He had done it again-- _Ayanami_ Rei... why had his father  
  
used her name-- or the other way around. They had probably just agreed on keeping their own  
  
names. It would not be the first time for that to happen...  
  
  
In the cathedral of Adam and Eva a prayer was being said for a long-lost soul...  
  
Gendo was kneeled before the altar. "Soon, Yui, soon." He mumbled under his breath. He looked up  
  
to the six swords on the altar. "Soon we shall be together again!" He stood up, his robes  
  
rustling around him. "Come, Rei let us eat." Rei looked up from where she was sitting in prayer  
  
and smiled.  
  
  
  
  
Author's Note: This is an introduction; the REAL fic will come later on. This is my first serious  
  
NGE-fic, so I'm REALLY hoping for C&C on this one!  
  
I hope you enjoy it, and it will probably be a long series. ^_^ 


	2. First Impressions. Part I

Disclaimer: First of all thanks to my prereaders and my lovely beta-reader: Worldmage.  
  
OH NO! NOT THE PENGUINS (YES, THE PENGUINS! WE'RE BACK!--) [I'm not gonna do this...]  
  
(Yes you are!) [NO!] (YES!) [NO WAY IN HELL!!] *(whips out .357)* (YES. YOU. ARE.) [Fuck you!]  
  
*(Blam)* *[gurgle, thud]* (We don't own NGE or anything about it. No money's being earned and  
  
disclaimers suck!) [Ha ha! REVENGE] (Oh my god! It's an N2-mine!)  
  
*[BOOOOOM!]* [Ha! I am immortal!] *[brushes toasted penguin off clothes}*  
  
See, the penguins made me do it. Between a .357 and a N2-mine, you really don't get  
  
much of a choice-- and you can't escape them... they're everywhere-- talking in the corners.  
  
Talking, whispering their dirty little secrets and scheming. But the time will come where they  
  
shall pay... then the almighty dog-god CUJO shall come in all his terrible splendor and punish  
  
them! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!  
  
...enjoy the fic and please review.  
  
  
  
  
The Swords of Evangelion: First Impressions Part 1.  
  
  
Waking was pain. The pounding in her head was multiplied by the pounding of a horse's hooves that  
  
came closer and closer. Katsuragi Misato opened her eyes-- and shut them as quickly as light  
  
pierced her skull with the force of a battering ram. "Ohh... god," she moaned in agony. She heard  
  
a young man chuckle, and threw something at the sound. The crash of crockery only seemed to  
  
intensify the pain in her head-- and his laughter. "If you opened your eyes you would hit closer  
  
to the mark, Miss Katsuragi." Her eyelids parted in a tiny crack that showed her doe-like brown  
  
eyes. "Go see who's coming, Ikari. And stop talking like a westerner!" She threw herself back  
  
into the covers of her bunk once again and snuggled into the safety that it offered from her  
  
headache.  
  
  
The man dismounted quickly from his horse and saluted Shinji, who returned the gesture.  
  
"Where can I find Captain Katsuragi Misato?" The man was dressed in an armor that Shinji could  
  
not quite identify, but it did not seem important at the time.  
  
"Is this a message from the High Priest of Adam?" Shinji queried. The messenger seemed surprised.  
  
"Well, yes. How did you--" "Lucky guess," Shinji said offhandedly. "She's in the tent, I'll go  
  
get her." Shinji sighed as he entered her tent once more to hear the sound of her snoring   
  
reverberate within the confines of the little place. "Miss Misato." He waited a few moments, then  
  
again. "Miss Misato."  
  
He tapped his knuckles against a shield hanging off the center pole of the tent. Finally, a  
  
response. "Die," she moaned. Shinji merely grinned and tried to stifle a laugh.  
  
"There's a messenger here with an urgent message. It's for you specifically." She got up from her  
  
bunk, moaning, groaning and growling all the way. Shinji turned and went to stand outside the   
  
tent as Misato got dressed. Shortly thereafter she came out clad in full armor. The armor was  
  
scarred with small dents and patched spots from the countless battles she had experienced. But  
  
nonetheless she looked stunning. Shinji had found out, over the course of the years, that Misato  
  
operated with two different 'personalities'. Not that she suffered from a multiple personality  
  
disorder, but she changed when she donned her armor. She became Captain Katsuragi. Not Misato,  
  
the wildcat who partied the night away and spent the day fighting hangovers. But the Captain  
  
Katsuragi who had personally killed and wounded over onehundred and fifty men in combat in her  
  
lifetime of service in the temple guards.  
  
Now she accepted the letter with a crisp salute and a grim look. she looked the message over  
  
thoroughly, then turned to Shinji. "Corporal Ikari. Tell Lieutenant Mashima that you and I will  
  
be going to the Temple of Adam and Eva. We will be on a mission from both the council of SEELE  
  
and his holiness Lord Gendo of Adam themselves; he will be the commanding officer while I am  
  
absent. This is all he, and you, need to know. Now go."  
  
Shinji saluted without questioning her orders and went to tell Mashima that he had been appointed  
  
commanding officer for the time being.  
  
  
"Your holiness, they have recieved the message."  
  
Ikari Gendo looked up from the scrolls he had been studying on his desk. "Good. Tell Lord  
  
Fuyutski to prepare for their arrival." The attendant bowed and spun around on his heels to  
  
leave. "Make sure that I'm informed when my son arrives."  
  
The attendant turned around, and bowed once more. "Yes your holyness. It shall be done." Then he   
  
exited. About time, Gendo thought. The old men is getting impatient, though they think they  
  
see the larger scheme-- but they will learn who sees the greater picture. In the fullness of  
  
time, they will Gendo grinned unpleseantly and sat back in his chair to relax a little.  
  
  
Shinji and Misato had been traveling for some days now, the advantage of being by the front, was  
  
that the border to safety was not too far away. At least not for their division of the guard.  
  
"We are to collect the persons listed in this message. The closest one seems to be in this town."  
  
Misato sighed and put the paper back into its protective casing. "You said you had a sending?"  
  
Shinji looked up from his duty of filling the canteens with water. "I don't know: vision,  
  
sending... whatever. I don't really remember." Misato studied the young half-elf whom she had  
  
raised as her own son since he had been delivered to her as a young child. He was definitely  
  
hiding something from her, but he would tell her in time. He usually did.  
  
"Do you know why fath... Lord Gendo wants us to pick up these persons?" Misato looked at Shinji.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Well," Shinji said, standing up from where he had squatted, "he must've given you a reason as to  
  
why?" Shinji stared at her intently.  
  
"I don't know," Misato said. "You must know something," Shinji pressed, "all I need to know are  
  
my orders and how to best obey them. And that goes for you too!" she snapped, thereby ending the  
  
conversation.  
  
  
In the local dungeon of the Washiba township, Touji was having a great time describing how he had  
  
single-handedly defeated seven men and an orc in an all-out fist-fighting bout at the local inn.  
  
"Then this guy came at me from behind, see? And then I spun around and kicked him smack in the  
  
face! Cleared out all of the upper level-- I promise you, that guy's not gonna be laughing  
  
straight anymore." A raucous laugh reverberated up from the dungeons where he was sitting with  
  
the rest of the scum the town guards had pulled in overnight.  
  
Suddenly one of the guards came to his cell. "Suzahara Touji?" Touji stood up and brushed off his  
  
clothes. "Yeah, who wants to know?" Touji was suddenly very suspicious of the situation.  
  
"Just shaddap and follow me!" the guard snarled.  
  
"Hmph. Can't a guy ask a question?" Touji muttered under his breath. But nonetheless, he followed  
  
the guard out the cell and up to the ground level. "So? Who's asking for me?"  
  
The guard went over to where one of the most beautiful women Touji had ever seen and some  
  
half-elven guy stood. The woman was clearly one of the female Paladins of Eva, and she was   
  
apparently an experienced warrior. The half-elf next to her seemed a bit--  
  
preoccupied. He seemed very busy studying the wooden floor. He was dressed like an ordinary  
  
temple guard.  
  
Touji grinned as he approached the woman. "Suzahara's the name, love's my game baby, looking for  
  
a real man to replace the puppet there?" He pointed to Shinji, who was still oblivious to what  
  
was going on. "Suzahara Touji?" the woman asked incredulously. "The one, only and inimitable,  
  
lady," he assured her.  
  
She seemed to pull herself up a bit. "I am Captain Katsuragi Misato of the temple guards of Eva.  
  
I have been assigned to take you to the Temple of Adam and Eva. You will follow us to the  
  
destination." There was no question of his consent there; he just had to. But Touji was not going  
  
to be trod upon. Temple guard or not, he still decided his own fate. "I'm not coming unless you  
  
can grant me one thing." He snarled.  
  
"What is that?" Misato was not thrown off her balance by the young man's sudden hostility.  
  
"My sister is ill. I want the priests of Adam and Eva to take care of her. Understood? Or else  
  
you'll have to kill me. 'Cause I'll be fighting you every step of the way if you don't!"  
  
Misato pondered the options for a moment or two, then: "All right. Where is your sister  
  
currently?" Touji heard a sigh of relief from Shinji as he elaborated the details of the  
  
destination.  
  
  
Misato sent Shinji with Touji to pick up his sister. Touji headed down to the inn.  
  
"Weren't we supposed to pick up your sister?" Shinji asked, somewhat apprehensively.  
  
"Yes," Touji answered. "This is where she is at. The barmaid takes care of her when I work. She's  
  
been doing that for some years now, guess I won't be needing that anymore, huh?"  
  
Shinji looked at the taller and more muscular human, studying him. "What do you do for a living?"  
  
Touji cracked his knuckles and grinned. "I'm the man who keeps away unwanted trouble." From that  
  
point on Shinji decided that he would be better off not asking more questions.  
  
At the outskirts of the city they rendezvoused with Misato, who had gotten hold of a horses'  
  
wagon.  
  
  
"So, what's your name?" Touji asked the nervous half-elf. "Or are you a mute?"  
  
Shinji looked at Touji. "No, my name is Ikari Shinji." Hey! He had gotten it right. Shinji smiled  
  
as he reached out his hand to shake Touji's.  
  
"Ikari? Like Lord Ikari Gendo?" Touji gasped. He had never thought that someone like the High  
  
Priest would send his son to the battlefields. Shinji merely nodded, his face darkening. Touji  
  
looked at to the back of the horse wagon Misato had 'acquired' for them. "I hope that the priests  
  
will be able to do something for my sister. She had a real bad accident when she was younger.  
  
During the first years of the war it passed through our town, our house was set on fire and  
  
a wooden beam fell down on her when she was trapped inside, I don't know who got her out, but she  
  
survived." A wierd expression crossed Shinji's face. "She hasn't been right since then, though,"  
  
Touji continued, "she hasn't spoken, or even reacted when someone spoke to her... "  
  
He turned his head back to look at Shinji. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"  
  
Shinji shook his head. "No, I'm an only child. My mother-- my mother died when I was very young.  
  
My father was busy as the head of the church..." He looked at Misato, who was riding next to the  
  
wagon. "Miss Misato adopted me and raised me."  
  
Touji gave Shinji a strange look. "You know, Ikari. You sound like a westerner." He commented.  
  
"But you're lucky. You had someone to take care of you. My mother died in childbirth, and then my  
  
father died when I was ten-- it's tough enough making your way alone. Fortunately, I've had some  
  
help in raising sis." Touji sighed.  
  
Misato whistled at Shinji. "Stop for a moment, I just have to check something." Shinji groaned as  
  
he saw a tavern up ahead.  
  
"What?" asked a confused Touji.  
  
"If she goes in there now," an exasperated Shinji explained, "we'll have to carry her out after  
  
she has been drinking intensively for at least three hours."  
  
Touji gave Shinji another wierd look. "Come off it, Ikari." He laughed. "At the worst she'll have  
  
a pitcher and a half, get a little tipsy and then wobble out after some time. And while she is  
  
doing that we can get us some rooms for the night and grab something to eat. I'm gonna anyway,  
  
and sis can't sleep outdoors; she'll catch a cold."  
  
Shinji sighed. "You're right. Let's get the horses into a stable and arrange some lodgings for  
  
tonight. But I'll wager you that Misato won't settle for anything less than drinking herself into  
  
a blackout."  
  
Touji grinned as he jumped down from the wagon and walked over to the hatch at the back  
  
compartment. "I'll take that bet." Shinji grinned back, Touji was in for a lesson he would not  
  
forget anytime soon.  
  
  
And so it was that after four hours and five pitchers of strong northman mead, two gold  
  
pieces changed hands. "Thank you very much," Shinji said to Touji, who merely scowled at him.  
  
"I'm gonna go to sleep now." Shinji yawned. "See you tomorrow." Touji just waved dismissively at  
  
him as he left.  
  
"I might just as well turn in too." Touji muttered as he stood up from the table where Shinji and  
  
he had studied Misato. He cast a last look her way and shook his head as he went to his room.  
  
  
Rei looked at the sword in her hands. She could feel the hard metal underneath the leather straps  
  
that entwined the handle. It felt-- familiar. But in a way she could not quite describe. Like  
  
déja vu. She shrugged it off as another side effect of the usage of such an item. She lifted it,  
  
the smooth steel of the blade glinting in the torchlight of the unadorned room, racks of weaponry  
  
lined the walls, but only one weapon had her attention now. It was a katana. It had one cutting  
  
edge and a slight, graceful curve. Runes of magic and decorative inscriptions ran down the  
  
magnificient blade. She admired it shortly before entering her combat stance. She remembered how  
  
she had been taught to bend just a bit in the knees so that the opponent could not kick the legs  
  
from beneath her easily. She gripped the handle with both her hands, making sure that there was a  
  
little space between them. Then she began to swing the sword in a sword-dance taught to her some  
  
time ago.   
  
Ikari Gendo looked at her while she practiced her skills. He felt a swift ache of sorrow: She  
  
was so young, so innocent. Yet there were no other options left open to him. He had to do what  
  
was neccesary. He closed his eyes and concentrated just a fraction of a second, calling forth an  
  
image from within the depths of his brain, the part where all things tender and warm resided.  
  
Then a glowing sphere with the picture of an elven woman appeared. She looked almost identical to  
  
Rei, only she had the lustrous chocolate brown hair and deep, dark brown eyes of a high elf. This  
  
was the image of her he kept in his heart of hearts-- he had bound the image of her to his memory  
  
with the force of magic, the pain had granted him a small absolvation for what he had done,  
  
though he could never repay Yui.  
  
"Yui..." He sighed, and dismissed the spell. "Your holiness, Lord Fuyutski is here, as you  
  
requested." One of the attendants said.  
  
"Excellent. Now leave." Gendo poured the water in the scrying bowl out and replaced it on the  
  
desk where he sat. The enchanted water evaporated as soon as its use had been terminated. A short  
  
curt rapping on the door marked Fuyutski's arrival. "Enter," Gendo said, and sat forward on the  
  
chair once more. He rested his head on his hands, which he folded in front of him. And adjusted  
  
mentally to the side of him that got things done.  
  
  
  
  
Author's note: So, as said, this is NGE in a fantasy setting and that means that there should be  
  
fantasy races too, right? But I warn you. These races are on MY premises, and the way that I use  
  
these races WILL differ from whatever TSR and Tolkien (All hail the boss!) have filled your heads  
  
with. You will find peace much easier if you just settle for accepting that. *grins*  
  
Hope you enjoyed my humble works and please remember to review my fic. ^_^ 


	3. First Impressions. Part II

Disclaimer: I am God and you will bow down for me! BWAHAHAHA. Ok, I'm not God but neither are   
  
you so stop looking at me that way!  
  
It should be obvious that I don't own NGE or anything affiliated with it as such. And if you  
  
decide to sue me anyway, I have some words for you first: Hvis du er Dansker, så husk at dette  
  
kun er rettet til folk der ønsker at sagsøge mig: "Sut min pik din lede varanpuler! Du kan falde  
  
død om af en rigtig led sygdom med det samme. Du vil blive straffet som en slavedreng og revet  
  
rundt til du ikke kan kende dit eget røvhul for bar ar. Jeg vil få dig til at bøde for dine  
  
synder som det tåbelige væsen af flæsk du er! SLAVETØS! MØGDYR!"  
  
And second of all I shall also set my beta-reader, Worldmage on to ya. "Sic 'em, they badmouthed  
  
Asuka. They must pay!" *throws head back and laugh with evil glee, HAHAHAHA* That only goes for  
  
people who wanna sue me for whatever dumb reason they should come up with, though. If you don't  
  
speak Danish and want to know what that meant-- no way in hell I'm tellin' ya. Trust my word when  
  
I say that: 'You don't want to know...'  
  
A thank you to my faithful prereaders and my, as always, competent and patient beta-reader,  
  
Worldmage; Read his fics, they're good!  
  
  
  
  
The Swords of Evangelion: First Impressions, Part 2.  
  
  
Waking was pain. But it seemed different from the usual: The bunk was softer, and there was not  
  
as much light as there used to be. Misato opened her eyes and looked around the room she had been  
  
given the day before. She sighed and lay back in bed. Luckily, she had drunk mead. It usually  
  
only produced mild hangovers. And not the ones where she would get sick everytime she saw a meal.  
  
A knock on the door. A voice. "Katsuragi-san? Are you awake yet?" It was that boy they had picked  
  
up yesterday, what was his name-- Suzahara... Touji. That was it.  
  
"I'll be right there, Touji," she called, as loud as she dared on account of her headache.  
  
"Sure-- you want any breakfast?" he asked. Misato realized that she had not eaten any supper.  
  
"Yes, please." She stood up slowly, letting her legs find their balance underneath her.  
  
"Do you want me to wait?" Touji asked.  
  
"No." She said, "just go on ahead." She groaned a bit when she opened the window, but fresh air   
  
always made the hangovers better, so she just closed her eyes and enjoyed the silence.  
  
  
Later that day, Misato suddenly called for a stop at another inn. They had been through a land  
  
that had changed incredibly. From being ravaged by the Holy War they had prospered on producing  
  
foodstuffs for the army that waged the war they had been victims of. Now the fertile land  
  
blossomed once again and it seemed-- peaceful. Yet they still had a long way to go before they  
  
reached their destination, so when Misato began to give an inn inspective glances, Shinji got  
  
worried.  
  
"Miss... Misato-san. Can't you wait until nightfall this time?" Shinji asked nervously.  
  
"We are not stopping for a rest," Misato snapped. "We are stopping to collect a person from the  
  
list."   
  
"Sorry..." Shinji mumbled. Suddenly they heard a shriek. It sounded like nothing that could  
  
emanate from a mortal being. Misato had her sword out in a flash. "Here" she called to Touji as  
  
she drew a shortsword from her saddlebags and threw it to him. He caught it easily, but seemed a  
  
bit perplexed as to what he was supposed to do.  
  
"Well? What are you waiting for?" Misato yelled. "Buckle the sword belt on and draw the sword.  
  
We can't have you defenseless if there's a monster."  
  
Shinji just sighed and drew his longsword. It was a sword Misato had taken from a northman she  
  
had killed in combat. A fine weapon it was, with two cutting edges and perfect balance. Misato  
  
had said that such swords were worth the lives of many men where it came from. Almost nothing  
  
could break it, and it would cut through almost any armor like fire eating through straw.  
  
Suddenly Shinji was torn out of his reverie as the door to the inn was smashed off its hinges by  
  
the flight of a full-grown man through the doorframe. A furious redhead, who seemed bent on  
  
punishing him for some reason or other stalked the man, who now laid crumpled at the base of a  
  
water trough. "BAKAYAROU! YOU WILL PAY DEARLY FOR THAT YOU... YOU... YOU... MALE! FILTHY HUMAN!"  
  
She shrieked as she kicked the man and pummeled him with a broomstick.  
  
"Oh, no..." Misato groaned. Shinji shook his head and muttered something in elvish under his  
  
breath.   
  
Touji did not comprehend. "What? Is there something wrong?"  
  
Shinji nodded and pointed to the redhead.  
  
She's a real piece of work. Touji thought. Like a fine sculpture; everything about her was  
  
wellproportioned. She was every bit as beautiful as Misato, if not moreso. "I don't see anything  
  
wrong with her." Touji remarked dryly.  
  
Misato sighed and turned to look at Touji. "Look closely, you'll see pointy ears jutting up from  
  
within her hair. And if you were close enough, you'd also notice her incisors when she opens her  
  
mouth."  
  
Touji squinted as he looked carefully at the red-head. "She's an elf!" he exclaimed in surprise.  
  
"Yes," Misato said, "a western elf-- that means that she's totally different from any elf you  
  
might have encountered. It's amazing to find one here, even moreso because she's on the list."  
  
Shinji groaned in obvious dismay.  
  
"Western elves are way more hostile and aggressive than other elves." Misato noted dryly. "It  
  
comes with the size, they make up for their lack of intelligence with their brawn and size." She  
  
gave a little chuckle. "That's what an eastern elf would tell you anyway." She grinned. "But  
  
apart from the obvious physical differences, western elves rely on a matriarchal form of  
  
government, as opposed to the strichtly patriarchal one of their eastern counterparts and the  
  
women of the western elves tend to be taller and stronger than those of the eastern elves. The  
  
men are shorter than the womenfolk, but not always weaker. The magical gifts of the western elves  
  
are also weaker than those of their eastern cousins." She finished her lecture with a grin and a  
  
look at Shinji. "The two races seem to have an extreme dislike of each other."  
  
Shinji merely looked away and mumbled: "...Sorry."  
  
Misato sighed as she turned her horse around and started heading for the inn. "Stay here and  
  
don't do anything stupid!" She rode the short distance to the inn where the redhead had  
  
reentered after leaving the pummeled and bleeding man lying on the ground.  
  
  
"Sohryu Asuka Langley?" Misato asked as she tapped the shoulder of the redhaired elven female.  
  
"It's Asuka Langley Sohryu!" The elf snarled as she whipped around "And what do you want--  
  
human?"  
  
Misato groaned inwardly. This was going to be a tough one. "The high clergy of Adam and Eva  
  
requires your coorperation. Will you follow peacefully?" Asuka gave Misato a look that was not  
  
far from being physically damaging, if not deadly.  
  
"Drop dead, human," Asuka growled as she turned around once more and began to walk away. But  
  
Misato was not going to let her go _that_ easily.  
  
  
The sound of shrieking and smashing crockery was clearly heard, even from the distance of  
  
onehundred metres away from the inn. Then-- silence. Shortly thereafter, Misato exited with the  
  
redhaired elf slung over her shoulders. She motioned for Shinji to drive the wagon over where she  
  
stood. She easily dumped the unconscious elf next to Touji's little sister. "Gentlemen, meet  
  
Sohryu Asuka Langley. The next candidate in the list." She said venomously as she mounted her  
  
horse again. As an afterthought she reached down into her saddlebags and produced some chains  
  
which she dumped in the back of the wagon. "Bind her with these, just in case she wakes up."  
  
Touji looked at the slender elven maid and the thick iron chains. "Isn't this overdoing it?" he  
  
asked.   
  
Misato gave him an imperious look and said once again; "Bind her, before she wakes up." Touji  
  
sighed and did what Misato had told him to do.  
  
  
"Ach, Scheisse... mein Kopf. Es schmertzt!" She opened her eyes carefully and looked around. She   
  
could feel that she was in motion-- a wagon of some sorts. She looked around. A seemingly  
  
catatonic child lay next to her. Two men sat up front, backs turned to her. That woman rode next  
  
to them. Asuka tried bringing her hands up to rub her jaw. It was then that she noticed the bonds  
  
around her wrist.   
  
She cursed softly under her breath. It would seem that she had no other options left than to  
  
accept her defeat and find out how to best utilize the present circumstances to her advantage.  
  
That was what she had been taught in the army-- just before her desertion. Killing humans and  
  
those weakly cousins of hers brought little joy or excitement into her life. So she had started  
  
touring as a bard. She enjoyed music, and making a living from it was... for a lack of other  
  
words, pleasant. She hoped that the human wench had been gifted with enough sense as to bring her  
  
possesions and her horse. If not-- they could always be brought.  
  
She had a bond with the horse, far beyond what normal owners had with their pets. Just to make  
  
sure, she summoned it. The beast would now locate her tracks and find her. It was an elven horse,  
  
she had established a magical bond with it from its birth and so she was able to communicate  
  
mentally with it, even across great distances.  
  
"Good morning, Mistress Sohryu. I trust the ride was pleasant." The human wench spoke in a mock  
  
sweet tone. Asuka knew how to play that game just as well as anyone.  
  
"Aye, 'twas well. Although the bedding was a bit hard." She gave Shinji a predatory look. "Pray,  
  
next time, make one of the males assist me in finding such comfort." She smiled invitingly at  
  
Shinji, who turned red all over. The half-elf will probably be the easiest to kill. He has a  
  
weak will; no spine at all, Asuka thought with glee. Weaklings... this is all too easy. I'll  
  
let the girl and the other male live to tell the tale.  
  
Suddenly, the wagon lurched as something smashed into it.  
  
Asuka snapped her head around to see a massive cloaked and hooded figure. She suddenly had a  
  
flash of memory from her distant childhood-- tales that the elders had told to scare the children  
  
and to pass on knowledge of their past. "Lucifer...," She breathed as she beheld the awesome  
  
being. Shinji and Misato yelled, Touji froze and so did Asuka. The thing turned its hooded head  
  
and eyes glowed from within the dark, bottomless depths. "Help me!" Asuka screamed as she saw  
  
those terrible eyes gaze upon her, boring into her, snatching secrets from her past. She wanted  
  
to avert her face, but could not. She saw the eyes narrow as a twohanded sword materialized in  
  
the hands of the cloaked one. She remembered all the tales of her childhood now, all the ancient lore  
  
she had memorized for her tutors and then forgotten: the dark ones, the exile... she gasped in  
  
wordless terror as the being raised the massive blade to strike at her.  
  
There was a flash of light on steel, and the sound of a sword sliding through flesh. She looked  
  
up and saw: The weak-looking half-elf standing over her. His longsword buried in the creature.  
  
Its eyes had widened in surprise as it looked upon the blade. It seemed to mutter an oath in a  
  
unholy language, then it faded from sight.  
  
Shinji's normally placid face was locked into an almost unreconizable grimace. Asuka had  
  
witnessed such people in her homeland in the north... "Berserker," she mumbled.  
  
Shinji lowered the sword, which slipped from his seemingly numb hands. He gave Asuka and the  
  
others a blank stare as he returned to his seat at the front of the wagon.  
  
"Shinji?" Misato was worried. He had never acted that way before.  
  
"Let him be," Asuka said sternly.  
  
"Shut your mouth, you pointy-eared creep!" Misato growled dangerously, but Asuka ignored this.  
  
"I have seen such things before. He appears to be what my people label as a 'berseker'." Misato  
  
paled noticably. Asuka found a little comfort in that.  
  
"Do you mind sharing that secret with me?" Touji said sarcastically. Asuka shifted uncomfortably  
  
in her bonds.  
  
"Would you mind taking these off?" Asuka asked, Misato snorted derisively. "Listen, wench! I am  
  
currently the only one here who know how to deal with the half-elf's present situation. He needs  
  
to be tended to, as soon as possible!" Asuka looked over to where Shinji sat, seemingly as  
  
catatonic as Touji's sister. "Besides," she said softly. "He saved my life. I am indebted to him  
  
now. I give you my word of honor upon this, human. I will not leave his side untill he is slain by  
  
enemies, or my debt repaid in full." She looked Misato straight in the eyes. Misato deliberated  
  
for a moment, then decided that she had nothing to lose. She nodded to Touji and threw him the  
  
keys to the chains, moments after Asuka was released. She rubbed her sore wrists and then started  
  
to tend Shinji.  
  
"I still know what's going on." Touji said in exasperation.  
  
"I'll tell you the tales. Later, when we stop." Asuka hoisted Shinji up in her arms easily, armor  
  
and all and put him gently down on the bottom of the wagon where she had been lying moments ago.  
  
Touji was impressed with her strength, Misato even moreso, Asuka merely smiled, showing off her  
  
incisors in an evil grin as she kneeled to look after the unconscious half-elf.  
  
  
Shinji was lying in darkness. He saw nothing, felt nothing. Suddenly he heard a voice singing...  
  
a soothing bittersweet song. Almost like those elven lullabies his mother had sung to him as an  
  
infant. It was beautiful, calling him back to consciousness along with a burning sensation that  
  
was spreading throughout his entire being, becoming a gentle warmth as it dissipated.  
  
Suddenly he was awake. He saw the red-head sitting with a stringed instument of sorts, singing  
  
in some western tongue, although not the one she had spoken in earlier. But it was still lovely.  
  
It had been her voice that brought him back to consciousness. He suddenly realized how much she  
  
looked like an angel. The sun hit her fiery red hair setting it ablaze like a halo of flame as  
  
it gently caressed her fair skin and reflected in the deep, clear pools of her crystal blue eyes.  
  
She turned her head and looked at him, smiling. "So, the warrior awakens." She stood up. "Good,  
  
now I can rest."  
  
Shinji looked at her. "Did you-- did you tend to me?" He asked timidly.  
  
She grinned. "Yes I have. But now you're awake and I must eat." She turned around and wakled out  
  
of the room.  
  
"Thank you," Shinji said. She turned in the doorway and gave him a smile that made his heart  
  
suddenly beat faster.  
  
"Maybe later." She purred. Then she left.  
  
  
Out on the dark hallway Asuka wiped the fake smile off her face. A berserker-- that should pose  
  
an interesting challenge. She thought as she made her way towards the common room. It matters  
  
little, he cannot hope to best ME. But nonetheless he shall be worthy enterntainment. The  
  
menacing grin she had shown Misato and Touji earlier that day came out in full once again as she  
  
flicked her hair over one shoulder. A habit she had acquired over the years. But he will pay for  
  
your death, mother. As all of them must. If not the half-elf's mother, then the half-elf shall  
  
atone for her sins. Her grin turned into a grimace as she suddenly lost her appetite. But he  
  
saved my life...no, that was the battle-rage. He had nothing to do with it. And besides, that  
  
debt is an intirely different account. She went to the bedroom that had she had paid for out of  
  
her own purse instead of going to the common room, she had, as said, lost her appetite. "More  
  
nightmares will come to me now..." she muttered as she threw herself on the bed in the dark,  
  
cold room.  
  
  
Ikari Gendo, high priest of Adam, sat by his scrying device, poring over the attack that had   
  
transpired. "Odd," remarked Lord Fuyutski, "that doesn't seem to fit the plans SEELE had laid out  
  
for us."  
  
Gendo folded his hands in front of him and rested his chin on them. "Yes," he stated. "This is  
  
premature. They must sense something."  
  
Fuyutski sighed and got up from his chair. "What shall I tell the old men?"  
  
Gendo grinned. "Tell them that I am delayed by... matters of the church."  
  
"As you wish, your holiness." Fuyutski bowed, then turned and left the room.  
  
"I thought that he'd never leave." This was a feminine voice. A blonde woman faded into view  
  
behind Gendo. She wrapped her arms around his chest from behind. "Madame Akagi," Gendo muttered.   
  
"Would you join me for-- dinner?" The high priestess of Lilith grinned lecherously as she walked  
  
around Gendo's chair and straddled his lap.  
  
"I have something quite... different in mind." She purred as she kissed her lover. She gestured  
  
with her free hand to form a simple spell.  
  
  
Fuyutski heard the click of the lock in the door to Ikari's office and shook his head. "Play with  
  
fire and you'll get burned, Ikari," he muttered as he made his way to appear before the council  
  
of eldely magicians known as SEELE.   
  
  
  
  
Author's note: First a little note on the German words used, the direct translation is: Oh, shit! My head   
  
hurts. And Asuka's use of the archaic (archaic according to my beta-reader, Worldmage) word  
  
'wench' IS intended as very insulting. So if some of you didn't know what wench meant then  
  
you've learned somthing today. ^_^  
  
Ahh, so Ritsuko and Asuka have made their appearences. Who comes next, you wonder?  
  
You'll just have to read the next episode to find out. ^_^ And WHAT was that mysterious thing?  
  
Answers to this and more, on the next episode of the Swords of Evangelion. 


	4. First Impressions. Part III

Disclaimer: Oh goodie sweetness! Another disclaimer! Yay! (NOT!) Gainax owns NGE and yada, yada.  
  
God owns the bible and pretty much every-fuckin'-thing else... even Gainax and NGE and  
  
Hideaki-sama! AND YOU TOO!  
  
Thanks to my prereaders and my as always faithful beta-reader: Worldmage!  
  
And I also wish to thank all of those great people who have given me a lot of positive feedback  
  
on this tender experiment. You truly make this worthwhile! ^_^  
  
Domo arigato! Mange tak! ('Thank you very much!' in Japanese AND Danish. ^_~ )  
  
Now for the fic:  
  
  
  
  
The Swords of Evangelion: First Impressions pt. 3  
  
  
Asuka shot a withering glare at everyone who sat at the little table that morning. She grabbed  
  
some of the small breads that lay on the table, it seemed like some westerner had introduced  
  
wheat to this region, opening up the possibility of the making and baking of bread... something  
  
that was not too widespread in the east. Clever guy Asuka thought as she tore a piece of the  
  
small bread, stuffed it into her mouth and poured some water for herself.  
  
"Good morning Asuka-chan." Misato said in a sickeningly sweet tone of voice. "And how's my  
  
sunshine?"  
  
Asuka ground her teeth at Misato's teasing, but she did not reply.  
  
Touji finished gobbling down his fourth helping of breakfeast and started to grab for his fifth  
  
when he suddenly remembered something. "Hey, didn't you say that you'd tell us some  
  
more about that thing that attacked us?"  
  
That made Asuka react. She nearly choked on her food.  
  
But a promise was a promise and like it or not, she had promised to tell something about her  
  
cryptic comments of the figure yesterday. Seeing as she would need them alive to help her she  
  
might as well tell them what she knew... but not all of the sacred myths was for the ears of  
  
commoners to hear. Some of the secrets contained therein was extremely dangerous for non-elves.  
  
She sighed and took a sip of water, acting very calm about it while she desperately tried to  
  
figure out what to tell and what not to tell. She decided that it would be best if she shared as  
  
much as possible-- they seemed to be on the same side for now.  
  
  
"Listen closely to what I say and do NOT interrupt. The telling of these tales are sacred and  
  
must not be halted in any way." She gave each person at the table a stern look. Then she began  
  
telling her tale; she seemed as if she was entering a trance, she closed her eyes and muttered  
  
under her breath in the western dialect of elvish. Then she began to talk in the common language,  
  
her voice seemed different, yet still the same. As if she was in a trance.  
  
"The Supreme One made all there is and all there is not. The Creator first created the angels  
  
out of the fire at the heart of the universe. The One created the Seraphim first of all. They  
  
were the most powerful angels The One had under his command, the first angels of the first  
  
choir."  
  
Asuka was oblivious to the strange glances the other people gave her, but she noticed anyway,  
  
though her eyes were closed, and explained patiently: "The angels are divided into three choirs,  
  
each of which have a sphere of influence. They all surround the throne of The One. The three most  
  
powerful kinds of angels the Seraphim, the Cherubim and the Thrones or Gal-gal or Ofan...  
  
the last ones have many names.  
  
Of all the angels The One created, Lucifer was created as the first, the morning star. And he was  
  
the one The Creator held dearest of all the angels, he was also dubbed 'The Firstborn'.  
  
Asuka seemed to sadden a bit; her voice took on a strange tone. "He was the most glorious, most  
  
perfect creature. He was the most kind and benevolent of all beings and did all The One's  
  
biddings without question. He was the most faithful of all angels and, as The One had decreed  
  
unto all off the angels, Lucifer bowed to none but the One.  
  
But then The One became bolder in the endavor to create life in all its multitudes. Animals,  
  
plants-- everything. Then one day, The One created Lillith. She was one step away from angelhood.  
  
As beautiful as Lucifer and as proud. When The One then created Adam she refused to lie with him.  
  
She loved Lucifer, for he was the only one, besides The One, she deemed worthy of her love.  
  
Then The One made a decicion. He banished her forever from the garden of Eden. Then he held forth  
  
his other creation, man, for his angels to admire.  
  
The One told all of the angels to bow and revere his work-- then one angel stood forth. He said,  
  
'My creator, most magnificient of all beings, thou said to us when we breathed our first and  
  
looked into thine eyes that we were never to bow to anyone but thee. Yet here we are, supposed to  
  
grant reverence to that which not The One. Thou asketh of us to idolize thy creation as something  
  
it is not... and that is thee, my creator.'  
  
Then Lucifer made a fatal mistake in his arrogance and added a detail that made The One's full  
  
cup of anger overflow. 'And why should a son of the fire bow to a son of the dust?' The creator  
  
was furious with Lucifer. Lucifer and all who followed him were banished. The One gave them  
  
another chance to repent their words, but Lucifer said: 'I cannot, will not idolize that which is  
  
inferior to thee as if it was a divine creature. Thou giveth me a choice, and I say unto thee:  
  
'Nay, I shall not bow to man. I will obey and revere only thee. I have no choice but to break  
  
that of thy commands that causes the least grief.'"  
  
Asuka's voice was low now, as if reliving something painful. "And so, Lucifer and those who  
  
shared his beliefs were banished into hell. That which is called the dark exile by my  
  
people." Asuka looked up and around the table, looking firmly into the eyes of each person.  
  
"There are also the myths of the Gregarious. They were the ones who taught humans the 'pleasures  
  
of the flesh' as it is described so subtly. The Gregarious, or watchers as they were called, was  
  
also banished for those actions. They cared little, they had fallen in love with mortal women  
  
and had even sired their offspring. Sadly, though, The One decreed in a moment of blind wrath  
  
that all of the children had to die and so he sent out the angel of death, Gabriel. The One told  
  
her to slay all of the children. Having witnessed The One's wrath, she did as she was told and  
  
took the life of all the children. After that she passed on the duty to the angel Azazel of the  
  
Searphim. The Gregarious were furious that their beloved creator could cruelly demand that  
  
innocent life should be taken in such a manner, and they joined the dark side."  
  
The redheaded western elf seemed to snap out of her trance, but she continued the tale.   
  
"Most religious people believe that Lucifer and Satanel are two sides of one gold piece. That is  
  
wrong. The One created Lucifer, and if The One wished it, Lucifer's existence would be cut  
  
short very suddenly and with much pain. The One became self-aware, and as The One became aware  
  
of being, The One noticed something that was not right. The One is good. Flawed, but good  
  
nonetheless. But The One's counterpart: Satanel, the opponent, is evil. Capable of good, but  
  
evil nonetheless. They have struggled for dominance since they became aware of themselves.  
  
Even such powerful beings like Lucifer or his brother, the archangel Michael, are pawns in a much  
  
larger game. We are no more than they. But we were given a choice... we were given souls. When  
  
an angel dies, be it by the hand of a demon or, as in the heavenly wars, the hands of a brother  
  
or a sister, the life-force of the angel - the essence of the angel's being returns - to The One.  
  
All things returns to The One in the end.  
  
This essence is the most powerful substance in the world. It is the blood of angels and that from  
  
which they arise. New angels are created from essence and as such, the wheel of creation keeps on  
  
turning even if Lucifer or some other dark angel or archangel were to die."  
  
Asuka flipped her fiery hair casually over one shoulder and took a sip of the water.  
  
"I believe that the being that attacked us was a Gregarious, sent to either kill us or test our  
  
strength. Most likely the latter, or we would all be roasting slowly over a sulphur lake by  
  
now... or our souls would," Asuka said with a shiver.  
  
Misato gave Asuka a strange look, but said nothing. She needed a drink.  
  
Shinji paled a bit and took a deep gulp of some concoction there was in his mug... probably that  
  
potion the easterners called tea, Asuka thought with a snort.  
  
Touji seemed pretty indifferent and was trying to spoon-feed his catathonic little sister some  
  
miso soup.  
  
Asuka shrugged and began eating once more. They had a long journey ahead of them, and she would  
  
rather die on a full stomach.  
  
  
Gendo looked at the big pentagram on the floor of the summoning chamber of the temple.  
  
He was waiting. And he was getting impatient. Suddenly a rift opened in the room. Gendo stood up.  
  
"Do you have what I asked of you?" he said coldly.  
  
"Now that is not a very pleasant way of asking for something..." came the playful response from  
  
the other side of the rift. "But yes, I have what you asked for."  
  
"Were there any problems?" Gendo asked, just a bit nervous.  
  
The being on the other side chuckled. "Of course not." A tall man stepped through the portal.  
  
He gestured simply and it closed. He was about thirty years of age. He had long brown hair and  
  
several days' worth of stubble. He had a cocky grin almost permanently planted on his face.  
  
"Ryoji-san. Would you please hand over the relics?" Gendo held out his hand in a request for the  
  
items he had sought for such a long time.  
  
Ryoji Kaji gave Gendo a strange look and the smile fadeed. He did not like being pushed  
  
around. Especially by humans. But that was probably to be expected from one of those arrogant  
  
priests. Kaji shrugged, and handed over the ornamentally carved wooden chest.  
  
Gendo opened the chest... there it was. The fabled ribcage of Adam, one rib missing. Not broken  
  
or cut off. Just... missing as if it was never supposed to be there.  
  
"So this is what all this fuss was about?" Kaji sauntered over and peered into the little chest.  
  
"Not much to look, at is it?" He grinned as Gendo carefully, almost reverently, closed the chest.  
  
"That will be all, Ryoji-san. Fuyutski-sama will take care of your payment as per our  
  
arrangement." Gendo waved a hand dismissively. "You are allowed to leave now."  
  
Kaji sneered at Gendo and made a little bow before spitting out a spell-word that re-opened the  
  
gateway he had created. That Ikari person was becoming very annoying, Kaji thought. He would have  
  
to find out what was behind all this interest over some western church relics.  
  
  
Akagi Ritsuko was calling upon her goddess to ensure the succes of her summoning. "Lillith,  
  
first daughter of The Creator, I call thee. Grant upon thy servant a favor, which she humbly  
  
begs. Dark mother of all magic, come to me, enlighten me. Fill my vessel with your infinite  
  
knowledge." She began speaking the words that came to her; the spell had been granted and she now  
  
had but to make the neccesary gestures and words. "Armakath, huthra vaih nagash!" Ritsuko hissed  
  
as she began drawing a pentagram in the air. Her assistant, Ibuki Maya, was nervously watching  
  
her mistress as she began the summoning of a beast from the lower planes. Some day Maya would  
  
wear those robes of Lillith herself; she would be able to wield magic with the same skill as her  
  
sensei... but for now she was content with clutching her apprentices' spell-book to her chest and  
  
watching and learning.  
  
  
  
  
For the uninitiated ^_~ :   
  
Ok, first of all: The Cherubim is NOT those little puppy-fat children who flaps around with  
  
all kind of odd things in their hands, from violas to bows with heart-arrows. The Cherubim is the  
  
guardians of Eden, armed with swords of flame it was they who chased off Adam and Eve (or Eva...  
  
whatever.)  
  
And when I mention that the angels are divided into choirs, I don't mean that they are singing.  
  
It is the ranking and their sphere of influence that are their choir. (Although the Seraphim is  
  
said to circle the throne of God non-stop, chanting the prayer of creation to his eternal honor.)  
  
And the Gregarious is just some obscure Catholic myth I picked up in a book on angel-lore I read  
  
once, so don't worry if you don't know them.  
  
And I know that I've mixed up the myths of Lucifer's fall a bit, but it's all for the good of the  
  
story. There are seven different myths that I know of, might be that there are more...  
  
And by the way; all the angel lore and holy mythology stuff is not something I made up. Except  
  
the dialogue of course. But other than that all about the angels and Lucifer is something I've  
  
read, not made up. Although the 'dark aspect of The One' part is mostly my creation and belongs  
  
to my religion as such.  
  
  
Author's note: Ok, so we find out one helluva lot of things about angels and myths... remember  
  
them if you plan to read on; it will have some importance later on.  
  
As always, keep the reviews comin', people. ^_^ 


	5. Interlude.

Disclaimer: If I owned NGE, I wouldn't be doing this, now would I?!  
I own nothing and if you sue me you're dead! (Believe me, what Shinji did to Kaworou will be water compared to what I'm gonna do if you dare  
sue me!) Have a nice day! ^_^  
And a big THANK YOU to my host of competent, friendly and patient beta-readers, I won't mention anyone right now so that way I can avoid  
forgetting anyone. Y'all know who you are. Thanks.  
  
*mental communication*  
thoughts  
  
The Swords of Evanglion: Interlude/We...  
This is just something to whet people's appetites and keep them at bay until I can get a real episode ready for all of my school work.  
  
Shinji was dreaming. Thus far the dream was normal, Shinji was not aware of being asleep as people usually are when they are busy dreaming.  
Although somewhere in his sleeping consciousness, Shinji was not sure whether or not this was a dream or a nightmare. He stood in a dark  
place. Where once had been forest was now a desolate wasteland-- barren save the schorched, stumps of trees and rocks that lightning had  
blasted into near-nothingness a long time ago.  
"Do you wish to know what we are?" a voice asked Shinji. He whipped around, expecting to see someone. But all he saw all the way around was  
the barren waste of a nightmare.  
"Where are you?" Shinji spun around, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice. "Show yourself! Let me see who speaks!"  
Shinji turned once more to see a massive cloaked and hooded figure before him. He could feel the might this being wielded. Yes, almost  
sense what he had suspected all along.  
"You are a fallen, are you not?" Shinji swallowed a lump in his throat. The being nodded slowly.  
It turned and indicated that Shinji should follow. He did so without question.  
  
After walking for what seemed like days, yet felt like minutes, they arrived at a place where the being turned about and held up its hand.  
*Stop!* Shinji stopped in his tracks.  
"Why did you take me here? What are you? Who are you?" Shinji began throwing question after question at the being who made no reply. It  
merely turned around again, stopped and faded away.  
  
Shinji waited for a long time, he looked around. The place almost looked like what would have been one of the famed meeting places of the  
Nordic elders. Big stones, shaped like chairs sat in a circle with something that resembled a throne in the middle. Sand moved gently about  
on the ground, moved by a gentle wind.  
Suddenly the wind intensified, a gust came up from nowhere and blew the sand on the ground up into little dust-devils. Shinji felt as if  
someone was standing behind him. He spun around swiftly.  
There it was.  
The cloaked being was a head taller than Shinji, but feminine in shape, though the cloak made it hard to be sure. It held a mighty flamberge  
which was wreathed in dark flames.  
The angel lifted the sword slowly above its head.  
Shinji grabbed for his sword, which naturally was not present (This being a dream).  
Suddenly, though, his sword appeared in his hand. Shinji was too busy to wonder who had made it appear there. He just barely parried the  
downward chop as he slipped into a semi-battle-rage condition. He was luckily able to hold off the berserker state, but he knew not for how  
long.  
"You wish to know who we are?" The cloaked figure asked Shinji in a soft feminine voice.  
"Yes." replied Shinji, countering with a quick slash towards the figure's side.  
"You wish to know what we want?" Parry, counter.  
"Yes." Parry, thrust.  
"You wish to know of us?" Evade, slash.  
"Yes!" Shinji was beginning to slip fully into his battle-rage now.  
The two opponents circled each other in silence, until Shinji lunged at the being with a roar of madness.  
"DIIEE!" He stabbed, slashed and chopped in a maddening combo that would have resulted in certain death for any opponent but this.  
Shinji made a fatal error, his last thrust overbalanced him and he went too far forward-- the figure grabbed the naked blade with its bare  
hands, closed its fist and crushed the portion of the blade it held in its hands, enabling it to pull Shinji towards itself and wrapping him  
in a tight embrace, pinning his arms along his sides, immobilizing him.  
Shinji could now tell that this was not a Gregarious as he had thought: It was another kind of being...   
Something was different. Shinji did not get the same impression as he had from the Gregarious-- it was something... different, but he could  
not pinpoint it.  
The being whispered in Shinji's ear as he was slowly crushed in its vice-like grip.  
"We are the wakening.  
We are the ones you seek.  
We are the conquering.  
We are the merciless.  
We are the truth that is all."  
Shinji was surprised at the way the soft whisper reminded him of something-- almost maternal in its tenderness, it brought back fuzzy and  
garbled memories.  
He looked up and with an inhuman effort Shinji composed himself and ripped off the hood of the being.  
He saw... Rei.  
But with green eyes and chocolate brown hair...  
She looked much more mature, but the woman resembled Rei in such a strong way that Shinji was taken aback by amazement.  
The woman responded swiftly to Shinji's passive state. Her green eyes and soft face hardened into a frown bordering on a scowl as she  
knocked Shinji unconscious...  
  
Shinji woke up with a start and a terrible headache.  
He suddenly remembered his wierd dream and looked down to where his sword lay. he pulled out the fine longsword-- the middle portion was  
crushed into a bar. Shinji could see the indentations of a woman's slender fingers.  
The sending he had experienced with Ayanami and his-- father had been slightly disturbing to one with as little experience in the  
supernatural as he, but this... this was disturbing in the extreme for the young temple guard, to say the least.  
  
Misato wondered why Shinji looked as if he had only slept half of the night. But as she was about to ask him he just turned his big,  
grey-blue eyes towards her and the haunted look in them was more than enough to kill her curiosity.  
  
  
To be continued.  



	6. Under Way

Disclaimer: I don't own NGE, so fuck the pieces of shit trying to sue my ass. If I ever made any money off this I wouldn't tell you, but I don't! So there you have it! May the ungodly penguin legions of CUJO eat your ass and may you forever be forced to remain standing if you even consider hostile actions taken against this author! HA! ^_^ Have a nice day!  
  
And a great big THANX to my beta-readers who have grown so numerous that I have to check the beta-reader's list in my mailbox every time I have to give thanks, because I'm such a ditz who couldn't remember where his well- shaped ass was if he had both his hands on it... -_-;;;;  
  
Author's Preface: Well… it's been fuckin' ages, but now I'm back. Not that anyone's left who can remember who the fuck I am, but whatever… Been all too long since I posted anything, but most of the people know the difficulties of school and work combined with the inadequacy of the human body and the puny 24-hour timetable we exist by. But now, I present a new fic at LONG last! ^____^V  
  
*…* is mental communications.  
  
… is thoughts.  
  
The Swords of Evangelion, chapter 5.  
  
  
  
Misato sighed and looked up from under the bamboo hat Touji had bought her for this part of the trip.  
  
Asuka had refused to take any kind of help and had also remained in her heavy clothes as a sign of defiance. Shinji had tried to convince her that the trip through the great desert would kill her, but the grumpy elf had countered with a tirade of vile oaths towards poor Shinji. She seemed to hold herself in very high opinion regarding male attention. Apparently she seemed to think that any male looking at her was imagining her naked and wanted to ravage her young, innocent body.  
  
Misato had grown so tired of Asuka's yelling at everything, especially Shinji, that she had ordered Touji and Shinji not to talk to her to avoid any further disturbances. Shinji was very calm about Asuka's riling him; if Misato did not know better, she would have taken him for a floor-mat or a verbal punching bag. Touji, on the other hand, was not so passive and was every bit as volatile as the redheaded elf. But Misato had to admit that Touji's hand-to-hand skills were quite useful, the boy knew how to fight. He would not need much training to become a very skilled warrior.  
  
The day before they had entered the great desert that clearly defined the ultimate border between east and west, Asuka had offended an orc she thought had been looking at her in a lecherous manner. The orc talked back to Asuka, who then launched a full-scale assault upon the orc's integrity and family, thus angering the beast beyond any possibility of talking sense into it. Touji had then calmly interjected with a drop-kick to the orc's head. The kick had cracked the skull of the orc, who died quickly. It later turned out that the orc was wanted dead or alive for murder so the day ended with Touji getting one hundred gold pieces from the local magistrate. He had bought Misato a bamboo hat to protect her from the sun. Misato smiled at that; under that gruff facade, the kid had a heart of gold and the guts to defend it. He would make a worthy knight or paladin. She turned her head towards him to find him staring at her.  
  
"My pardons, Katsuragi-san." He blushed and hurriedly looked another way, seeming to find great interest in a cactus a mile away or something. Misato chuckled to herself. It was funny, he seemed like a ladies man, but he was as shy as Shinji around women he liked. She just hoped he would find a nice girl when they reached the capitol. It would do him good to get rid of the obvious infatuation he had for her.  
  
The day passed as the sun grew ever more merciless. Asuka sweated bullets, but never once complained. She never took a sip from her bottle unless it had been five minutes or longer than Misato took a sip from hers. Asuka perceived this as a struggle of wills. Misato did not seem to care.  
  
Night then fell as the little party set their camp. Touji prepared the shelter while Shinji tried to make a fire.  
  
Asuka seemed fine. Her clothes, which had been a cause for great grief for her, were now, from her point of view, an advantage over the others. Misato was standing by the wagon, enjoying some mead and the great night.  
  
"It's cold. Isn't it?" The snide remark took Misato out of her reverie. She had been looking at the moon rising over the dunes in the desert. It had looked just like moonlight on the snow back home. Misato found that amusing. No matter where she went, the way snow and sand reflected the moonlight was always the same.  
  
"I asked you if you were cold." The redhead was getting annoyed. How dare that human ignore her, the great Asuka Sohryu Langley?!  
  
"No, I'm fine. I've been riding all day in that heat, so this's just perfect." She looked at Asuka. "What about you? You still look like you could need a bath." Misato looked at Asuka who, although proud and haughty, looked like something a warm-spring penguin had dragged in. Asuka admitted silently to herself that she was sticky and that the dust from the sands had settled itself way too snugly in her thick, lustrous, red mane.  
  
"What would be the benefit for you in this deal, human?" Asuka asked suspicously.  
  
"I won't have to smell the stinking of a sweaty elf for tonight and the rest of the day." Misato gave Asuka a disarming smile. "And don't worry about the boys looking. I'll guard you." Asuka looked at Misato for a moment more, waiting for her mask to slip and reveal her bluff, but she seemed sincere enough and since the redhead also agreed that it would be better for her to take a short shower she nodded her consent.  
  
"So be it, human. But beware of any treachery. I shall slay you if you trick me in any way." Asuka moved over behind the wagon, out of sight from the camp, and began to slip off her clammy clothes. Misato just grinned at the ever suspicious elf.  
  
Asuka took her canteen, it was half full, but that would have to do. She let the cool water pour down over her body and savoured the feel of the water cleansing her skin and hair.  
  
Misato handed her a casket she had taken from the wagon.  
  
"We got this for washing off. But don't drink it." Asuka looked at the human with suspicion in her eyes once more and then hesitantly took the casket and removed the cork. She splashed some into a cup and poured it onto her hair, another cup went down her back.  
  
"Oh, by the gods it is pleasant to be cooled off like this." Asuka revelled in the way it seemed to reach her soul and cool everything in her body. Misato grinned at the elf's antics.  
  
"I never expected that you would be gracious over something like this, elf." She said jokingly.  
  
"Well, it is the small things in life that provide the greatest amount of pleasure." Asuka smiled at Misato as they finally seemed to come to a cease- fire.  
  
"Well, not always the small things." Misato winked at the elf, who blushed, a furious red colour.  
  
"What do you mean by that?!" The elf sputtered, not believeing what she heard.  
  
"Oh, nothing… Just trying to make conversation, you know; woman to woman." Misato grinned as it all clicked into place in Asuka's mind.  
  
"Mein Gott! Are you talking about THAT?!" Misato just smiled at the elf.  
  
"I AM human after all. What about you? You mean to tell me that you have never been touched by a man?" Misato winked at the elf who was busy dressing, helping herself to something fresh from Misato's spare clothing.  
  
"Touched, yes... But I have never slept with a male, let alone committed the act of love." Asuka blushed a deep, dusky rose. "I've dreamt, but I've never tried. I'm waiting for the right male." She looked at Misato.  
  
"Have you ever found the right male?" Misato smiled at the elf's question.  
  
"Yes, I found the right man-- for a span of years or so. But now he's gone. He never told me where." Misato's voice grew a little sad. "But I still love him..." Asuka looked at Misato with stars in her eyes.  
  
"That's just SO romantic." She went over to Misato and patted her on her shoulder. "Don't worry. If he doesn't show up, I'm sure another'll come along. I know how humans work. You do have an obligation as a female to procreate the species." With that Asuka took her blankets and went to sleep next to the fire. Then Misato realized what the elf had said to her.  
  
"HEY, I'M NO BREEDING MACHINE YOU POINTY-EARED HUSSY!!" Misato huffed and stomped over to the wagon for her sleeping accesories. She lay down next to the fire and soon began to sleep, dreaming of setting the redhead's hair ablaze so as to make the fire complement the colour of the elf's hair.  
  
Touji woke up that next morning as the sun gazed over the top of a dune. He yawned and stretched. He stood up and enjoyed the first pleasant rays of sun that shone upon his face. He grinned as he turned to look upon Shinji, who had come to lie in an extremely awkward position that seemed almost humanly unattainable, his breath coming in squeaky little snores. Touji went over to wake up Captain Katsuragi. She was lying on her side, pillowing her head with her hands. She breathed in slow measured intakes and outlets of air, sometimes making a little cooing sound of comfort and stirring. Touji smiled. She was really a magnificent woman. He looked to where the redheaded devil would be lying and found much to his surprise that she was not there. He heard humming sounds and decided to follow them. He found the red-haired elf, doing morning exercises. More precisely an elven sword-dance, it looked just like a Tai-chi kata. She went through the sequence of moves ever so slowly, her eyes closed. She hummed an eerie tune to herself. It was not eerie in a bad way, it was just very strange in some of the intonations. Although seemingly discordant, they fitted the overall sense of the melody. Touji decided that he might as well wake up Misato, but before he did that he thought that it would be a good idea to get her sword back to her. He cleared his throat noisily. And in a span of very short time, he was at sword-point. He instinctively slapped away the sword, getting a deep gash in his palm.  
  
"OW! WHAT ARE YOU, STUPID?!" He yelled at the red-head, who blushed in shame, but quickly regained her senses.  
  
"You're the stupid one, Suzahara. You shouldn't disturb people when they practice with sharp weapons!" Asuka defended herself.  
  
"But you were the one to put ME at sword-point!" The mad human growled at Asuka.  
  
"Listen, we can discuss all this for ages, but it isn't going to heal that cut. Come here and I'll dress it for you." Asuka reached out her hand and took Touji by the forearm. He quickly pulled his arm back, though.  
  
"No, thanks, I'm not going risk you doing something even worse to my hand than cutting it." He snapped bitterly. Asuka sighed and looked at the angry human in front of her.  
  
"Listen," she said sternly. "If I don't dress this wound, it could very well be infected. You could have to cut the hand or even the arm off, provided the infection doesn't get into your bloodstream and kill you right off. And what good will you be to your sister then?" The elf assumed a stubborn stance with her hands balled into fists and put upon her hips, her legs wide apart. Touji smiled in resignation.  
  
"All right, I guess if you put it that way you should dress the wound. And who better to help the healing than an elven woman, right?" He winked at her. She blushed.  
  
"Don't get too cocky, human." The haughty elfin snapped. "I'm only doing this out of consideration for the group. Another load of dead weight is not going to do us any good if we head into trouble.  
  
She took Touji's hand delicately and led him towards the back of the wagon where she tore off some pieces of cloth from a blouse in Misato's baggage.  
  
"I don't think Katsuragi-san is going to appreciate your mauling her spare clothes." Touji remarked nervously. Asuka just looked at the human with a grin plastered on her face.  
  
"What is more important? Some stuck-up wench's luggage or your hand and health?" Touji looked at his hand, grimaced and then nodded.  
  
"Continue then." Asuka took out a little bowl and some water, pouring a small amount of water and some of Misato's alcohol into the bowl, she then moistened the torn cloth in it.  
  
"This might hurt a bit." Asuka said gently as she held up the cloth. Touji gritted his teeth  
  
Asuka noticed how cold the hand was because of the blood gushing out. She took it ever-so-gently and dabbed at the wound, she looked up at Touji through her bangs and noticed that he was a little paler than before. The wound was probably more painful than he let on to. He was brave. She looked at the hand again and noticed that the wound was actually deeper than she had thought. She cleansed the cloth in the water once more and continued the process of dabbing at the wound with the wet cloth until she was satisfied with its state.  
  
Touji looked at Asuka, he tried not to show her how much pain the wound was. Especially with her handling it, although she was as delicate as a butterfly's touch. But every time she dabbed that cloth onto his wound, a searing pain shot up through his arm from the wound. But it was probably because of more than just Misato's brandywine mixed with the cold water.  
  
Touji suddenly caught himself thinking how warm and soft her hands were and how delicately she touched his hand. He looked at the elf-maid, she was concentracing extremely much on the hand. Even an elven healer would not grant it that much attention. She was fair, he had to admit that. Although at times, she was a haughty elven devil as well. Then she looked at him once more. Their breath caught in their throats as their gazes locked.  
  
Asuka dropped Touji's hand and moved the hand than had been holding it up to caress his face, tracing her fingers softly from his eyebrow to his jawline and cupping his cheek. Touji took her by the chin and lifted her head gently as their faces moved closer and their lips met... then something even more extraordinary happened. Touji felt a force move within his being. Asuka felt the same force to, but in a different manner. It was as if something was flowing out of her and into Touji, they both deepened the kiss and Touji felt a tingling in his hand. The pain in it ceased and suddenly he felt fine, a warm feeling spreading throughout his body.  
  
After a moment more they ceased the kiss as the force within them dissipated.  
  
"You perverted BEAST! Filthy human scum! You dare touch my virgin body?!" Asuka was amazed at first, but then she served Touji a roundhouse punch that turned his head to the side with a snap that almost broke his neck. He calmly turned his head and raised his hand. Asuka almost cowered in anticipation of the slap the strong human male would deliver, but instead he just took her by the chin once more and kissed her on the forehead. He held up his now healed hand, a white line tracing the tanned skin where the deep gash had been.  
  
"Thank you, Asuka-san. I don't know why you just hit me, but you healed my hand and for that I owe you my gratitude." Touji cupped her cheek gently and caressed it with his thumb for a moment or so. Then he turned and left, picking up Misato's sword on the way.  
  
Asuka sank to her knees, now on the verge of crying and muttering bitterly in elvish.  
  
"Why mother, why? Is this another gift, or another curse, why have you made me to suffer such a fate... why mother? I'm no healer, I'm a warrior; I'm only good at hurting people..." Asuka got up and steeled her jaw and composure. She took several deep breaths to calm herself and then went to join the others, assuming her usual grumpy mask.  
  
"What do you mean you 'sensed a magical emanation not of this world'?" Ikari Gendo, the high priest of Adam asked his chief magical advisor and lover, Akagi Ritsuko.  
  
"I mean that I felt something within our territory which I have never felt before." The blonde sorceress stated, her voice laced with irritation.  
  
"Excuse me, but I don't think we should be worried about the emanation." A quiet voice broke through the discussion. Gendo's head snapped about to look at the cautious little brunette, clutching her spell-book nervously to her chest.  
  
"Why is that, and who are you?" The priest grumbled. Ritsuko stepped over to side protectively with her apprentice.  
  
"This is Ibuki Maya, my apprentice. She will soon become a sorceress herself. She is skilled in the reading of emanations and it was originally her that led my attention towards the event." Ritsuko put an arm around Maya's shoulder and smiled comfortingly at her. "Go ahead. Speak your thoughts freely with his holiness." Maya gulped and stammered out her explanation.  
  
"Well, your holiness and mistress." She nodded to Gendo and Ritsuko respectively with their titles. "The emanation I sensed was actually somewhat akin to a healing spell, but none of the aura readings I used indicated an aggressive spell. I also sensed that it was slightly similar to the elven healing spells that we are familiar with and as such should pose no threat. It was most likely a band of elves moving through the great desert and one got injured or something akin to that." The apprentice concluded with a gentle smile towards Gendo, who surprisingly smiled back.  
  
"So you were even able to pin-point the location of the spell-casting?" Gendo asked.  
  
"Yes." Maya Answered.  
  
Ritsuko looked at her lover and then at her apprentice. The situation seemed interesting, but she shrugged her urge off. The barrier that sundered the undisciplined witches from the true sorceresses was the fact that the true sorceresses had the discipline necessary to quench their urges. Maya was too innocent to think beyond a smile and a kind word yet, but she'd learn. And before she got started Ritsuko might as well talk to her apprentice about discipline.  
  
Now Maya was helping Gendo perform a divination by helping him towards the location from where the spell was cast. Then Gendo looked sternly at the sorceress and the sorceress-to-be and spoke.  
  
"Leave me be now. I shall commune with my magic to find the travellers and define if they are a threat or not." Ritsuko and Maya bowed and left the chamber  
  
Once the two sorceresses had left Gendo sat himself down in the chair once more and concentrated on the location indicated by the young apprentice.  
  
"Come, show thyself to me. Appear." The high priest commanded. Then he almost lost his composure as he tracked the source of the spell. It was his son's party. He saw the always angry red-headed elf. The tall, strong human and the beautiful paladin he had entrusted with his son. He saw his son, a strong, young man and was glad that he had not chosen wrong in entrusting the paladin with his son.  
  
The child would prove his mettle in combat.  
  
Gendo gave the spell no more thought. It was more than likely that the clumsy human boy had cut himself or dropped something on his foot and then the elf had deigned to heal him. Gendo grinned. He looked forward to receiving the next members of the group he was gathering. They where expected to arrive at the same date as his son's group. Gendo folded his hands in front of him and smiled to himself. He would soon have the best fighters in the world at his disposal, and with the items he would provide them, they would be almost invincible. And against the threat that lurked beyond the sky, they would need to be almost invincible, if not completely. Even then they would be lucky to succeed…  
  
Shinji and Asuka looked around.  
  
"Do you have a sense of being watched, Asuka?" Shinji asked the elf.  
  
"Yes, but I just think that it's the desert that's getting to us. Open land inspires paranoia in most people used to more enclosed settings." Asuka shrugged and continued to pack her belongings.  
  
"I'd just guess that my having grown up in the great forests and your having grown up inside a temple is what's affecting us." She turned around and started to walk towards the wagon and jumped up into it. Shinji sighed as he picked up his meagre belongings as well and headed towards the wagon, getting into the driver's seat next to Touji.  
  
"Don't you think that she's calmer today than she usually is?" The half-elf asked the human. Touji just nodded, his mind miles away.  
  
"Uh-huh." Was all he said.  
  
Shinji picked up on the distant tone in his companion's voice and decided to play a little prank.  
  
"And there's a group of dwarves, shaving off their beards and doing the tea- ritual in pink kimonos over there." Shinji said and indicated a direction.  
  
"Likely so..." Touji replied, not hearing what Shinji was saying.  
  
"And your little sister is drinking of Misato's brandy-wine." Shinji was very amused himself.  
  
"Mm-hmm..." Touji said, Shinji pulled out his ace.  
  
"And Misato-san is over there taking off all her clothes." Shinji whispered slyly to Touji who immediately snapped out of his trance.  
  
"Where? Where? Where is she, I have GOT to see that!" Touji was looking in seven different directions almost at once to catch a glimpse of what he thought was heaven. Shinji snorted in disgust.  
  
"Here I am, making deep and profound conversation and all you care about is seeing Misato-san naked. You're disgusting." Touji looked at his fellow and grinned.  
  
"Maybe so, but at least I'm not a hypocrite." Shinji folded at once.  
  
"... Gomen..." he muttered.  
  
"But you're right." Touji said. "The elf is more silent today than usual." He looked over his shoulder down into the back of the wagon and found himself staring back at Asuka. They both turned their eyes away, blushing furiously. Shinji was too busy looking at a rock formation to notice the exchange between Touji and Asuka. And that was probably for the best.  
  
Ayanami Rei sat outside the place where Ikari-Sama held his meetings. He had asked of her to attend and she had arrived precisely at the designated hour, not a minute before and not a second later. She had sat herself down and had waited for thirty seconds straight.  
  
"Rei." At the sound of Gendo's voice, the young, blue-haired maid turned her head.  
  
"Yes, my liege." She stood up and bowed, Gendo held up his hand and smiled at her.  
  
"Please, Rei; respect is acceptable, submission unneccesary. You don't need to bow unless I do so." He laid a hand on her shoulder as he reached her fully and led her into his chambers.  
  
"As you wish, your holiness." Rei nodded and smiled briefly, her little, slight smile was like the sun breaking through a cloud, but then she resumed her usual impassive mask as Gendo closed the door.  
  
"What did you wish to talk to me about, milord?" She looked into Gendo's eyes as she said that. He looked at her for a moment as he found himself amazed at the depth of her red, red eyes then he remembered why he had asked for her to come.  
  
"The others shall arrive within three days or a week and I want you to remember what I have told you. Especially concerning the elf. She is very unstable and could prove to be jeopardous to our cause, but none the less she is as vital as you, if not more. Understood?" Gendo gave Rei a stern look. Rei inclined her head, in respect.  
  
"I understand, milord. Will the test proceed as planned?"  
  
Gendo smiled as he patted the shoulder his hand was on.  
  
"Yes, Rei. We will give you the sword and your armor this afternoon. Go rest, you shall need your strength as a priestess to be at its fullest." Rei nodded once more and left queitly.  
  
Gendo sighed and seemed to age as he beheld the leaving figure.  
  
"So like her, and yet so unlike her is she..." He muttered under his breath.  
  
"Having second thoughts?" Fuyutski Kozo asked sarcastically as he stepped out from the shadows. Gendo looked at his second-in-command and shook his head.  
  
"I cannot afford to have second thoughts. The time for us to retain a clear conscience is long past. You know that as well as I." Gendo snapped a vicious stare over the elder man, who just nodded and said.  
  
"Yes, I knew from the start what this would likely mean to us-- yet I still stand here today." Kozo began to walk away. "To this hour I still question my wisdom in following you, Gendo..." Gendo sunk into the chair at the big oakwood desk and held his head in his hand sighing and muttered to himself.  
  
"Sometimes, I myself question the wisdom in following me..."  
  
Asuka sighed as they reached the first signs of real vegetation, trees. The sand was beginning to turn into dirt and the maki bushes began to turn into shrubbery and bushes.  
  
"Oh, mein Gott! It's gonna be SO good just to travel under the cool shade of a leaf forest, not to mention a lot safer. At least you have a chance of hiding from beasts in here." Asuka's relieved mutterings soon turned into a grumbling tirade as she always did. Touji just shook his head and muttered to himself.  
  
"Does she never run out of energy in her pursuit of things to complain about?!" Shinji's fine hearing picked up the muttered comment and he grinned.  
  
"It wouldn't seem like it. She has an incredible imagination and an impressive stamina." Touji groaned at that statement and Asuka continued her complaining as they slowly reached civilization.  
  
Misato had ordered a tub and boiling water to be taken to her room when the group had reached the inn. She had also ordered ale and a big meal. Misato leaned back in her bath and let out her breath in a long, heartfelt sigh. She smiled to herself and took a long sip of her beer, letting the cool, spicy fluid clean her throat as the bath cleaned her body. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the warm water, ducked her head under the water and held her breath. After a minute or so, she raised her head above water and began to breathe calmly, the humid air, dissolving the dust from her lungs.  
  
Then she began to wash her hair and face. After that, she just soaked and enjoyed her beer, deciding she was going to try and imitate a prune as much as humanly possible.  
  
Shinji was glad he had taken Misato's advice and ordered a tub and some boiling water as well. He remembered her words as she had spoken them, with her finger raised in a sisterly gesture of indicating her higher status.  
  
"A bath will clean your mind as well as your soul. You'll feel worlds better after a bath and a meal. And with a full belly and a clean body, you'll sleep much better." Misato had grinned and ruffled her young charge's hair as she had walked off to her room.  
  
"But the thing is," Shinji muttered as he looked into the ceiling. "Unpleasant memories always find me in the bath." And true enough, they did.  
  
Shinji revisited the day of his first battle, as he always did. He still tried to analyze what had happened and what he had done wrong or what he could have done better.  
  
Shinji, and the contingent he was in, had been in charge of defending the Washiba township. They had done a good job. Shinji had tried to stay out of harm's way and the way of the more experienced warriors. Then he had spotted a group of westerner knights who had tried to sneak up on the defenders holding the key position. Shinji had hoped to distract the knights, but all he accomplished was setting a house on fire. At the time he had given it little thought, but then he had heard the cry of a child inside the building he had accidentally set ablaze. He had fought his way through the throng of fighting people out on the town square, taking his first lives and thinking nothing of it as he made his way towards the building. Then a beam fell and the crying silenced. Time stopped for Shinji as he went into the hellish inferno. He saw the little girl trapped under the beam and quickly discarded his sword to go help her. The flames licked at him and the heat was unbearable, but he made his way to where the little girl lay. He took the beam in his hands, but no matter how much he lifted the burning beam, he could not move it and his hands were grievously wounded. Then a dark shadow stepped in and easily hoisted the beam off. Shinji looked up and saw-- one of the westerner knights, the one who had been in the lead. He looked like an elf with his angular features and almond-shaped, almost easterner-like eyes. He said something in the tongue of the west, Shinji did not need a translation to define what the man meant, he dragged the girl from underneath where the beam had lain and made his way outside.  
  
They exited and then Shinji expected the man to kill him, any sensible soldier would have slain Shinji and left the girl inside the house. Or at least killed Shinji after getting the innocent child out, but the armoured man just ruffled Shinji's hair and smiled warmly at him, he turned around to leave and was run through by a grim-faced Captain Misato. The man just gasped and froze as Misato tore out her sword deftly and brutally.  
  
"NOOO!!" Shinji screamed, how could she do that?! The man had not only spared Shinji, but he had also helped Shinji save the girl. Shinji looked at Misato, tears streaming down his face and making stripes in the soot that had gathered there from Shinji's trip into the burning house.  
  
"Why, Misato? Why?" He asked with a choked voice. Misato just looked coldly at Shinji.  
  
"He was an enemy. Any threat perceived is to be eliminated. I thought that he would harm you, Shinji. I killed him to protect you." Misato snapped at her young charge and turned around.  
  
"Take this..." The man gasped. Shinji started, he had thought the man dead by now.  
  
"Take... this...talisman... for... for pro... tection..." The man took off his helm with great difficulty and held out the said talisman. Shinji could see his pointed ears, he was an elf. Shinji kneeled and took the man's hand.  
  
"Thank you. Thank you very much for helping me and-- and her... I-- I'm very sorry... please forgive me!" Shinji said, tears now dripping on the dying elf's face. The elf nodded and held Shinji's hand firmly, then he closed his eyes, sighed softly and was dead. Shinji picked up the amulet, put it around his neck and then hefted the young girl in his arms and started the trek towards town square.  
  
Shinji lay in his bed now. He still tried to go over what had happened. The elf had died because of him... Shinji took out the necklace he usually kept hidden from everyone, even Misato. He studied it for a moment. It was a cross, a religious symbol the westerners used. It seemed to be made from adamantine, with an onyx set in the middle as a sun of sorts that had rays streaming out. Shinji looked at it and held it up towards the lamp on his bedside table. A halo of amethyst appeared, it was just at the tip of the points of the onyx rays of sun that shot out between the bars of the cross. Symbols were also traced on the cross, either silver or mithril, but they gleamed furiously in the fire. He could recognize them as elvish, but a dialect he did not know, most likely the language of the western elves.  
  
Shinji sighed as he slipped the cross inside his tunic once more and blew out the lamp, throwing the room into darkness.  
  
Rei was not sure if she should be amused or annoyed at the fact that even though she enjoyed the smooth feel of the cold metal as she let it touch her bare skin, she got goose bumps from it. She decided to be amused and smiled a little, studying her arm, turning it over so that she could see on the other side that, verily, she had goose bumps there as well, but then again it could be attributed to the cold in her room as she stood undressed and took on her armour.  
  
"Strange..." The blue-haired priestess muttered to herself as she slipped the padded leather tunic that would protect her from arrows over her head and down over her body, she tightened the straps that sat in front and felt it hug her close as the comfortable embrace of a friend. After that came the ring mail to further protect her, then she took her chest-plate and place it over the front part of her torso, she motioned for the servant, who was busy wiping his nosebleed off, to clip the back piece on as she spoke the first command sentence for the armour.  
  
"Torso plate, assembly..." And the two pieces of armour seemed to meld and form one seamless plate that fitted her form perfectly, like a heavy sweater. Rei smiled with satisfaction and took the shoulder-plates, setting them in place she said, "Shoulder, attach."  
  
She proceeded to put on her armour in that way, first taking a piece of armour on, and then ordering it to join the already assembled pieces.  
  
When she was done, her armour was like a second skin, hugging her curves tightly, complementing her shapely body like a tight dress. The armour was a silvery blue with beautiful adamantine runes fused onto the odd metal. She caressed it tenderly, her fingers tingling from the awesome magic contained in the armour. She clipped on her sword-belt, the slender katana hanging from a chain in its sheath.  
  
Rei found her helm. It fit her head snugly, with a nose-guard and small holes so that her hearing would not be impaired. She was ready.  
  
Rei looked at the different people present in the audience-chamber. She felt the power within her sword fight against her control as she drew it. She then felt her being, her mind, being set aside as the force within the sword and her armour took control of her. She could feel her body taking action, but her role seemed that of a bystander.  
  
Gendo was mildly surprised as Rei raised her sword with a cry, gritted her teeth and charged.  
  
"Watch out, sire!" Ritsuko yelled as she tried to find a spell that would stop Rei without killing her-- or at least a spell that would kill her and leave the armor intact.  
  
Rei slammed against the barrier-spell that Gendo had raised. It was similar to an A.T. Field, but not quite as strong, Rei slashed and hacked away at it as Gendo raised his hand and began to chant the words of a spell that would surely stop Rei.  
  
Meanwhile Rei had hacked and bashed at the barrier, she had wounds from several darts with numbing poisons shot at her, but still she persisted, she shifted between head-butting, ramming the barrier with her shoulder and hacking away at it savagely to get to Gendo, her sword throwing sparks when it came into contact with the barrier.  
  
Ritsuko suddenly lost her breath as a vacuum formed within the room and the temperature lowered itself several degrees. Gendo had cast a magic of dispell, deactivating all magic within the room but still allowing him to cast spells, he centered the dispell on Rei and her armor, then he had cast an ice-spell to pacify the young priestess. He then ran to her with almost impossible speed. He tore off the now easily removed armour pieces to get her out, but when he touched the first armour plate he felt a searing sensation on his hands, the spell had cooled the metal so much that Gendo burned his hands from touching it.  
  
As soon as the armour was removed, the shivering young woman was carried to her chambers. Rei was bleeding from several gashes, one of her arms hung at a wierd angle indicating a broken bone. She probably had several cracked ribs and hypothermia from Gendo's spell was not out of the question. One of her eyes was swollen shut and the poison in the darts shot at her was beginning to work. Rei was, literally, in a world of pain as her husband and superior carried her to her room and, with the aid of other clerics, tended to her.  
  
Rei barely pulled it through the night.  
  
Aida Kensuke shouldered his knap-sack as he stood up from his little nap and began to walk down the dirt road that led to the capitol of the east and the grand temple. He turned as he heard the pounding of hooves behind him and hurried to hide in some nearby bushes. He then saw a wagon with two men coming down the road. Riding next to the wagon was a beautiful woman with hair so dark that it went beyond the normal black-blue hue of eastern people, it seemed purple. Kensuke grinned, judging from her armour, she was also a paladin of Eva. He would probably be able to hitch a ride with these people. He stepped out on the way and waited for them to come near him.  
  
"Hi there, I'm Aida Kensuke. I'm headed towards the great temple and the capitol, could you possibly be going the same way?" He smiled his most charming smile at the female paladin and did his best not to wink. He might as well be on the safe side since she was probably the one who decided things in that group.  
  
"Aida Kensuke?" The paladin asked in a strange tone of voice and reached into a satchel in her horse to take out a document. She seemed to scan the parchment for a while and then looked at him.  
  
"Yes, we're headed towards the temple ourselves, just jump into the back of the wagon." Kensuke smiled gratefully at her and bowed deeply.  
  
"Thank you, honorably lady of Eva. It shall be a pleasure to be in thy presence." He quickly went around to the back and got into the wagon.  
  
The first thing he saw was a red-haired western elf giving him a death- glare.  
  
"Good day to you, fair maid, Aida Kensuke at your service." He inclined his head, but she just snorted haughtily and looked away.  
  
What a bitch… She's beautiful, but with that kind of an attitude she'll never find someone who'll be with her all his life. Elven or not, even if it were an arranged marriage. Kensuke grinned to himself as the wagon began to rumble on.  
  
The day strode on and the sun began to set. The group, now one man more, had traveled through the great forests all day and would soon reach the place where the mountains took over. There the rice-farmers grew their crop and tended the fields that provided the sustenance for most of the nation.  
  
But as the evening turned into night, it seemed unlikely that the party would reach the mountains right away. And so they set their camp.  
  
"So, are you a temple guard or what?" Kensuke asked the half-elf who snapped his head up as if he had been interrupted in a trance or something.  
  
"Huh?" He looked at Kensuke with a stupefied expression on his face.  
  
"I asked you if you were a temple guard." Kensuke repeated his question.  
  
"Mm-hmm..." Shinji nodded and began to stare into the fire once again.  
  
"Don't worry about him," Misato said as she sat herself down besides Kensuke. "He's always nervous around strangers. Aren't you, Shin-kun?" Shinji just stared into the fire, ignoring the world around him. Misato just smiled and shook her head.  
  
"Is he an-- um..." Kensuke searched for the right word, "Half-wit?" He awaited the response nervously and hoped that he had not offended anyone. Misato just gave Kensuke a strange look.  
  
"No," she said, "he's a half-elf. You know how they tend to recluse themselves." Kensuke nodded at that, he had known several people of varying elven heritage and the one trait they all shared was their tendency to shut themselves out from the world at times.  
  
"He's probably just tired. He and Touji have been driving all day in shifts and they weren't exactly used to traveling in long stretches prior to this, Shinji maybe, but not Touji." She looked at the young man next to her. He had a compact, muscular build and wore the longsword he had strapped around his waist with the ease of one who was used to handling such weapons.  
  
"Are you a former soldier?" asked Misato, studying the young man's face intently.  
  
"No, I'm self-taught." The young man said quietly, Misato pondered that for a moment.  
  
"Mercenary?" She asked, the young man nodded and averted his gaze.  
  
"Yes, I hope you don't think any less of me, Katsuragi-sama." Misato chuckled.  
  
"No, I don't think any less of you… I have known mercenaries who were people of great valour and heart. I have also known knights who were petty people not worthy of their station and vice versa. It's not the profession that defines the man it's what he chooses to do with it." She looked at the young man, giving him a warm smile and a pat on the back.  
  
"Now just go to sleep, I shall stand guard." Kensuke looked at Misato as she got up and stretched, walking to the edge of the clearing in which they had made camp.  
  
What a woman... He thought as he closed his eyes and laid himself down to sleep.  
  
The next day they reached the mountains.  
  
"Wonderful! This is the first proper sign of civilization for weeks!" Asuka was actually in a bright mood for the first time in a long period. Misato took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air and enjoyed the wind's toying with her hair.  
  
"Yes, and that means that we have to be extra careful." Misato looked at the young people in the wagon.  
  
"She's right," Kensuke interjected. "Because of the housings and farmsteads it's more than likely that bands of orcs and other scum will be roaming the countryside." Asuka gave Kensuke a withering stare.  
  
"And what makes you such an expert on this, human?" She snapped, Kensuke just snorted and cooly replied.  
  
"Five years of experience in 'the trade'." He turned away to enjoy the beautiful view over the lowlands.  
  
"A mercenary?! You scum!" Asuka voiced her opinion loudly. "You kill people for money, you're no better than an assassin or a murderer!" Kensuke turned his head around to face the elf once more and leveled a threatening look at her.  
  
"You have no right to judge me, you loathsome, pointy-eared, female dog!" Asuka was baffled at the stinging verbal reiteration from the human and gaped for a second or two before aiming a punch at Kensuke. He deftly grabbed her arm and twisted.  
  
"Stop that. I won't hurt you, but leave me be!" Kensuke growled and released Asuka's arm with a jerk, causing her to bump back against the side of the wagon she had had her back propped against.  
  
Misato shook her head. It was going to a long ride to the capitol...  
  
  
  
Author's note: So, this was a long one, hope you liked it. The next one will not be long in its coming. (Hopefully ^_^;;; )  
  
And what happened to Rei? Will this mean anything? And how will Kensuke fit into the group? Can the friggin' trip take much longer? This and more will be answered in the next episode of 'The Swords of Evangelion.' NOW BOW YOUR HEAD AND PRAISE CUJO!!!! 


End file.
